Cupcake Catastrophe
by Sir Cheesy Fries
Summary: Angela was never too good at cooking. When Chase attempts to teach her, how will it go? Will they get the job done, or will he fail like the others before him?


**Well… this is a one shot with Angela/Chase, but keep in mind that I haven't played Tree of Tranquility yet, but I have read stories about it. I would totally buy it if I had a wii, though! (Stupid brother for selling the old one. -_-)**

**Guys! Guess what? I got a new kitty at the Humane Society today! It's a little fluffy tortoiseshell and white 2 month old, it's so sweet! We don't have a name for her yet, but my sister likes to call her "Little Cat". In fact, she's trying to eat my bowl of ice cream right now. O.O**

**Enjoy the story, review at the end if it is your wish, and don't do bad stuff!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon, or any of the characters/places.**

There was but one sound that dawn as the burning star of fire climbed higher like an airplane in takeoff. There was but one motion as the seconds ticked by like a bomb waiting to blow up, counting the seconds until the explosion. There was but one heart beating softly under petite sets of bones and thick but delicate skin.

Sprawled against her twin-sized mattress underneath a plain green quilt, a female figure slept the blanket that covered her chest rose and fell with every small breath, every twitch of her arms or legs. Air escaped from her lips as she rested from a long day of farm work prior to her sleep. It was plainly unclear as to what she was dreaming about to the common eye, but Angela saw it no more than anybody else did. Her eyebrows furrowed in her sleep as she tried to decipher what was going on in her sleepy daze.

Was that a tree that just flew by? Or did cows actually start flying? Her eyes popped out of her head, and she instantly regretted her saying that related to the two keywords: cows, flying. The majority of people said the same but for pigs, but to Angela, that was unacceptable. After all, who would want a pig? It was when it had finally settled in her system that Angela watched her dream-self run towards the barn where her three cows and two sheeps were. Her chocolate brown cow she liked to call Nasu (as it was short for Nasuada) turned her head first and mooed happily, causing the other cows- Quiche and Arby - to copy her actions. Her two sheep were still asleep. They leaned against the wall as they dozed, waking up abruptly at times and shifting their body.

Meanwhile, the digits on the girl's bedside clock had changed into 6:00. As if an alarm clock had been turned on inside of her, she instantly opened her groggy eyes and sat up, back leaning against the headboard of the bed. Her tired but sparkling brown eyes took one glance at the flashing digits on the clock that sat on a nightstand next to her form.

_6:00, right on time, _Angela thought happily to herself before throwing her short legs over the side of her bed and hopping down. She quickly stripped down and put on a clean light green shirt and jean shorts from the dresser by her bed. "Might as well take a shower after I'm all done," she mused quietly to herself while sitting by herself at the table by the kitchen. What was she doing today? Angela went through her daily check list she kept in her mind.

_Water crops or plant new crops if possible._

_Brush, feed, milk cows._

_Brush and feed sheep, shear if possible._

_Feed chickens and collect eggs._

_Go around collecting herbs._

_Ship or store items._

_Go to town._

_Pick up any items needed, ie: seeds, etc._

_Talk to people. _

_Cooking lesson with Chase at 3 PM._

_Talk to people some more._

_Weed if needed._

_Check on animals._

_Bed time!_

She frowned. When had she arranged to learn from Chase? With a jolt, she remembered yesterday. Chase had been teasing her about her poor cooking skills when she was in a bad mood, and finally, she snapped at him, "Why don't you teach me?" and…

Apparently he took her seriously. Angela groaned and set her head on the wooden table. She didn't have the nerve to cancel, but the thought of it made her bright mood dim a little bit. It wasn't that she didn't like being around him – he was one of her best friends, but he sure knew how to tick her off – it was because every attempt of his would end up at her yelling at him and her voice was a little sore from yesterday.

She grabbed her tiny rucksack from the counter and swung it over her shoulder before walking out of the house and shutting the door behind her. The 19 year old sighed.

Another day in the life of Angelina Murphy. Another day to reach breaking point.

Other than the occasional annoyance she dealt with, Angela really did enjoy her life here. She had been leaving on her own for about a year when she had found the brochure about the Ranch, living in a cramped apartment in a big city. Her job was tedious and not worth the pay it gave her, and she found herself running short of money constantly. Her parents had died when she was 13, leaving her to her only relative, an uncle, who died when she was 16. Angela had moved with a friend for a while, but she moved out after getting her own apartment after feeling like a burden on the family's shoulders. She smiled at the thought. Angela had been so relieved after running into it at a grocery store. The girl paid her rent for the month, packed her things, and booked a ship to the island they had called Waffle Island, which Pascal had described as "pleasant".

After running away from tragedy and fear, she had finally found her place. When Mayor Hamilton offered her the farm, she took it, and there couldn't have been a better decision that she would ever make better than that.

Now she had been here for about a year. In the city, her family's death had shut her up, so naturally, Angela wasn't easy to crack, or befriend, for that matter. She was locked up inside, grief darkening her heart and mind. Soon enough, though, Kathy had managed to see through that and they became best friends. The blond had opened her up and she started to interact with the others more. She truly believed the island was good for her.

Some would call Angela plain, but others would say 'elegant'. Though she couldn't say she liked either, or the thought of people looking at her and judging her on looks, Ange preferred 'pretty'. A girl of 19 would not normally stand at 5'3. A good length of chestnut brown hair framed her face before flaring out around the middle of her neck, and chocolate brown eyes looked at you. She wasn't tan, but she wasn't pale.

Setting her nagging thoughts aside, Angie took out her watering can and looked at the rows of seeds that would soon become fruits and vegetables. There was nothing to harvest yet, though the Turnips look like they would be in another day or two. She tilted the front of the can so water sprinkled out ever so lightly until she felt the plants were satisfied, repeating the step to every filled plot until they all were a darker, richer brown than the empty ones. After throwing the gardening tool to the side she ran into the barn, hugging Nasu's neck.

"Moo!" the chocolate brown cow replied happily, it's tail twitching behind her. Angela brushed the cows quickly before throwing out a good amount of hay into three feeders. After that she set on milking them, stuffing their products into her small bag.

When she was done collecting eggs from the chickens, feeding the animals, and giving love to the sheep, she took a deep breath. What did she have to do next?

_Right! Time to run around the island now!_

Three hours later, Angela had tossed everything she desired to sell into the bin. It was 12:00 pm. Her mind instantly averted to the time with Chase. Against her will, she felt her cheeks warm.

"Angie!"

Said girl spun around, only to find a certain blonde running towards her. Angela almost fell over as the girl's thin, pale arms wrapped around her neck. For her size, she was surprised of the force that was loading to one of Kathy's hugs. 

Instantly, the thought was whipped from her mind and she grinned and bopped her friend on the head. "Have I not told you to control yourself?" Angie teased, retrieving the bag on the ground and shrugging it back onto her shoulders. The blonde scoffed at this. At her height of 5'7, she looked down on her best friend. Ever since the brunette laid eyes on Kathy she thought she was pretty. She had darker blond hair that she tied back into a ponytail with bangs that fanned her face. Her face was set with deep green eyes with long lashes. A waitress at Sundae Inn, she wore brown cowboy boots that rose a little above her ankle but below her knee and a short black top with a blue jacket tied below her chest. A short skirt that was shorter than where her fingers touched adorned her legs.

"Never," the girl replied, mock disgust lacing her tone and a scowl on her face. She lay on the grass by the bin. Angela sat next to her. "What are you doing today?" she asked, now looking at Ange, who shrugged.

"I guess I have time on my hands, but I have something at 3, and Goddess knows how long that's going to last, or how it's going to _go_," Angela told her with a laugh that faded out at the look her friend had shot her. "What are you doing then?" asked Kathy, a smirk playing on her lips. "Is it a… date?"

It was Ange's turn to shoot a dirty look at the other now. "I wouldn't call it that," she started, her voice unsure. "At least with a date you have fun. I snapped at Chase yesterday with something and… apparently he took me seriously." She finished with an amuse look on her face. The face of the person sitting next to her fell suddenly, but she quickly covered it with a raised eyebrow and a thin smile playing upon her lips. "Oh, that Chase. You're positive it's not a date?

"Actually… I have another shift in 10 minutes, and if I don't get going now," Kathy said after a quick glance at her watch, but really, she was just running away from the death glare her friend sent her. If looks could kill, she would definitely be dead.

As her best friend ran away in the wrong direction, Angela got up and followed suit. It was 1:30. She had an hour and a half. _I suppose I'm done with my anti-social quota for the day, _she thought, the sides of her mouth quirking upwards. She figured it wouldn't hurt to visit Luke.

As she neared the Garmon Mine District, the girl was greeted with a shout.

"Annnnnggggieeeeeeee!"

Before she knew it, she was bowled over onto the ground, clutching her ribs. Her eyes shut tightly to try to soothe the pain that shot through her body. When she opened them, she saw a glimpse of blue hair and two cat-like eyes staring into her own. In an instant, she regretted coming here.

"What's my bestest of the best buddy Angie doing here today? I heard from Kathy you had a date! Shouldn't you be preparing for it?" he asked in all wondered, not even concerned about what damage he could've done to the girl in front of him. Angela pushed him off of her, getting up and attempting to brush the dust off the back of her clothes. She shot him a withering glare. "It is _not _a date! I knew Kathy was lying!" she seethed with a huff. Luke's golden eyes widened and he held his hands in front of him as if in an effort to protect himself. He watched as she glanced around, anger still clear in his eyes. _Well… oops! _The boy thought to himself.

2:30. Angela waved him off with a sigh. Time seemed to fly faster right now when she was nervous for what was going to happen for their lesson. "I have to go. I'm sure you have to work too. Let's just hope you didn't break me," she said through clenched teeth before waving goodbye to Luke and starting her way towards Chase's house.

She got there with 5 minutes to spare. _He should be home,_ she thought with a shrug, and knocked on the wooden material of his door. A minute later, it opened to reveal a boy with messy strawberry blond hair. She glanced at the side of his hair to see three bobby pins holding up bangs and didn't even bother to hold back a giggle. "Still wearing those even out of the kitchen?" she asked, amused. The boy shot a look at her that told her to be quiet.

When he shut the door, Angela walked over to the kitchen and sat down on one of the stools along the small island in the middle of the kitchen. "What are we making today?" she questioned.

"Well, I was going to start out with one of the most simple things, like cookies or pancakes, even cake, but since you know all the simple things but refuse to get it right, I thought we'd try cupc-"

"CUPCAKES?"

Chase shot a glare at her. "I would prefer for you not to interrupt me," he told her gruffly, but Angela just waved him off and turned her head to the side. "Yeah, yeah…"

She watched him as he glided through the kitchen, opening cupboards and cabinets, taking items out and setting them on the island in front of her. When he opened the fridge, she saw his eyes scan the orange juice and stifled a snicker as he got out the carton of milk, butter and eggs. He eyed her suspiciously. "Normally I would ask you to get out the mixing bowls, but as you break them every time, I think I'll take care of it," he informed her darkly bending down to open the drawer that contained the glass bowls. He sorted through them before setting a medium sized bowl onto the counter and the 4x4 cupcake tray. Every hole contained a paper liner over another one.

Angela groaned. "Come on, I'm not that clumsy," she protested weakly. She raised her eyebrows at Chase's figure. He chewed his lip and grabbed the sugar and flour. _He's so cute when he's concentrating,_ she thought dreamily. Realizing what she had just thought, the girl shook her head as if to dismiss the thoughts that had just polluted her mind. _I did not just think that. No, never._

"Angela?" a voice interrupted her urgent thoughts, and she jumped, startled. "Y-yeah?" she inquired, looking up at his violet eyes. "Are you going to help?" he asked with a laugh.

She gave him a small smile and hopped down from her stool to bump into Chase and she walked to his side. He handed her the measuring cups and the flour and sugar containers. "We need 2 ¼ cups of Flour and 1 ½ of Sugar. Flatten the flour in the cup like I showed you, and extra sugar helps," he instructed. Unsure, Angela picked up the white measuring cup, which read "1 cup" on the handle, and dipped it into the flour to get a scoop of the white ingredient. After smoothing it down with a knife so the flour measured to exactly the top of the cup, she turned the handle a little too quickly and got a lot of the counter covered with white powder. Chase huffed. "Wait until you're _over_ the bowl until you dump the flour out, and do it slowly, like this." He took one of the cups and slowly tilted it's emptiness onto the counter. He had a pained expression on his face, as if it hurt to watch his ingredients get wasted when they can be used so usefully. She did it again, finally succeeding, and cheered happily, knocking over the container of sugar in the process of spinning around with her arms out. "Stop!" Chase barked at her. She laughed, "You're even more easily angered when you're in the kitchen!" Angie told him with a giggle. He ignored it and told her to do the rest of the flour. Soon, after more spilled flour and some flour in her hair, she scooped the measuring cup into the sugar and poured some into his mouth.

Chase found himself staring at her lips. They were so full, so kissable. They were sticky from the honey she had eaten earlier, and the sugar stuck to her lips. The chef gulped and looked away. "Work before eat," he reminded her roughly, causing her to frown at him and wash off the cup before dumping the needed sugar in the bowl.

After several minutes, after they had just put the butter in, she pushed away the glass bowl and put her arms over her chest. Chase sighed. "What now?" he asked timidly, stressed that she just wouldn't cooperate.

"I don't want to do this anymore!" she exclaimed. Instead, her idea of fun was to grab an egg and crack it open over the boy's head. If he looked mad earlier, he was infuriated now. "Since when did you know how to crack an egg?" He asked, annoyed at her. She just smiled at him and faked that she had a camera and was taking a picture of him. He grabbed the spoon of cupcake batter and poured it over her head, mocking what she had done with the pretend camera and smiling. She only grinned more. "Oh, you're so on!" she said fiercely, throwing some flour on the counter at him.

The egg had quickly escalated into a food fight, and soon, the two were covered in batter, sitting on the stool drinking orange juice. Angela laughed. The kitchen lay in ruins. Layers of flour covered the counters like gathering dust and egg yolks lay running against the wall.

"You know, we should do this more often, but maybe not the food fight part – personally, I think I'd rather teach you how to cook," Chase's voice brought her out of her thoughts. He was standing up behind the stool now and Angela followed suit, smiling meekly. "What would you say – or do – if I told you I already knew how to cook?" she asked himnnocently, curious to see what his face would turn into. It quickly averted to anger. Seeing this reaction, she patted him on the head. "Nah, I'm only joking. No matter how much people try to treat me, it's for a lost cause, because I'll never learn," she assured him with a laugh, but the boy frowned.

"What about your kids?" he asked, chewing his lip. Angela glanced at him, bewildered. _I didn't say anything about kids, or marriage, did I?_ she wondered, trying to remember the events of the past two hours. She couldn't find anything. A smirk lay upon her face as she looked up at him, putting her arms around his shoulders. His cheeks flushed a nice pink. "A-Ange…" he started, but the girl interrupted him. "Were _you _thinking about kids?" she asked with a grin. She loved seeing him embarrassed like this. "You know… I wouldn't mind it," she told him, trying to sound serious as she leaned closer to him. He could feel the hotness of her breath on his lips, smell the citrusy aroma of her breath. He couldn't help but lean in too. He wanted the gap to close so badly. They were only about an inch away now. Chase leaned in, closing the space between them. Then…

"What, you thought I was going to kiss you?" Angela danced away, laughing. Her laugh to him was like the tinkling of a soft bell on a warm Summer day, like when he was a kid living in another town. He remembered how he used to hear the church bell ring at exactly noon each day. His attention drifted off to the girl in front of him once more. "Of course not, silly!"

With that, she bounded out of the door with the energy of a 5 year old, leaving Chase who was standing rigidly with a confused look upon his face which silently turned to anger as he shouted after her.

"Who's going to clean this all up?"

**How did that turn out? I'm not entirely sure of it right now, but I'm just trying to get back in a writing mood. Sorry if I messed anything up like the works in the actual game. I tried my best to research. xD And I know they don't have a recipe for cupcakes in ToT, but Cupcake Catastrophe just sounds so much better than "Chocolate Cake Catastrophe" and "Cookie Catastrophe", does it not?**

**I've always thought that my style of writing was a bit boring, but I don't really know how to change it. I should probably add more dialogue, huh? And I've always been confused by this – is it blonde or blond?**

**It doesn't help that I've never been the best at last names either. D:**

**See you next time!**


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